Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow Placement Interview Questions

• Q1. Introduce yourself.
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• Q2. Walk me through your work experience.
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• Q3. Couple of questions related to GST policy as they were relevant to work experience.
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Our client is a large infrastructure player, who wants to build a 10km-long tollway bridge connecting 2 cities divided by a river. Please advise them on its profitability.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate] 

I: The cities are currently connected by a 30km-long 4-lane bridge (no toll). Our client wants to shorten this distance to 10 km with a new 8-lane bridge, with a profitability objective.

Major use cases of the bridge users: work, education, personal/leisure activities.

C: Noted. My approach to this problem would be first doing a qualitative check for size of opportunity & risks, followed by a quantitative approach where we can calculate the NPV to check if it is positive.

I: Works. Let’s start with the Qualitative part.

C: Great. Here, I want to break it down into 2 parts: opportunity & risk. By opportunity, I want to look at what will be the traffic between the cities across the 2 bridges and its spread across each bridge. And in risk, I will have a look at major sources of risks such as Political risk, Regulatory risk and Relocation & rehabilitation risks.

I: Great. You already know the reasons why people travel between the 2 cities. What are your thoughts on the Opportunity bit?

C: Given that the distance between the 2 cities has reduced by 20 km (30-10), I would imagine a lot more people would be interested in travelling between the cities now, despite the additional toll to be paid.

I: Definitely. Let’s assume that qualitatively the risks don’t seem major as well. Let’s move onto the quantitative part of it.

C: Alright. Here, I want to estimate the NPV of the project and if positive, compare that with the infra company’s existing profits: if it is significant in comparison, only then will we go ahead with the project.

I: Perfect. Let’s begin.

C: I want to first look at the major revenue segments: toll, proceeds from rent & sale of real estate assets on the bridge, advertisements, tourism opportunities and parking. Fair to assume to these heads would encapsulate most of the revenue earned, am I missing something?

I: No. How will you estimate the revenue earned from toll, say in a day?

C: To estimate the revenue earned from toll in a day, I would first guesstimate the number of vehicles travelling between the 2 cities in a day and estimate what will be our bridge’s share of the traffic. After that, I would estimate a fair price of a toll ticket.

I: Great. Please lay down your approaches for each estimate.

C: Number of vehicles guesstimate: Used the Supply side: divided a day into Low/Medium/High traffic hours. Low traffic: one vehicle passes the tollgate every 20 seconds, medium: 10 seconds, high: 4 seconds. From the number of hours in each L/M/H traffic segments, will guesstimate the number of vehicles in each lane.

Multiply by 8 lanes. Toll Pricing: Used value-based pricing (alternate: cost-based, but the interviewer asked for value-based); By using our bridge as opposed to the existing bridge, each commuter saves time and petrol (thanks to lesser distance).

Petrol saved = 20 km worth of petrol, if the average vehicle’s mileage is 20 km, then we save 1 liter of petrol each way (~Rs. 70).

To calculate the monetary value of time saved (45 mins. (10 km at 40 kmph vs 30 km at 30 kmph average): we can multiply 45 minutes with the hourly salary of the commuter of the bridge with the minimum earnings/car owner. This way we can ensure affordability for all.

Final toll price (one way) = value added due to time saved + value-added due to petrol saved (Rs. 70). This can then be further discounted for monthly pass or return passes.

I: Great. Your thoughts on using the demand side approach for calculating traffic volume?

C: We can do that by estimating how many people would want to travel to the other city for each use case, despite the distance. For example, we need to estimate the number of school students for which the following equation is true ->[Value (Schooling in same city) < {Value (Schooling in other city): Cost (Monetary & Hedonic) of travelling to the other city}]

However, this is a difficult estimate with a lot of room for error. Hence, I would prefer the supply side calculation.

I: Great. Your thoughts on the cost side of NPV?

C: There will be a large capital expenditure, followed by periodic maintenance expenses.

I: Okay. How will you estimate the NPV from these?

C: Subtract costs from the revenue estimates over time, & discount it by the COC of the project.

I: Okay. Thoughts on the cost of capital of such projects?

C: Mostly high. These projects are mostly financed via non-recourse loans, with lenders having first claim to the cash flows emanating from the project till such time the project is paid for. Since this is a risky proposition for the lender, the cost of capital is usually high.

I: Great. Let’s do some calculations for the NPV and wind up.

• Q1. Tell me about yourself.
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Your client is one of the Top 3 IT services company. It is not growing. Find why?
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate] 

C: I would like to know more about the client. What kind of services is the client providing?

Is it operating on a global level?

How long has it been established for?

Is the company not growing in existing business or new business?

I: The client is well established. It has valuation of $5 Bn. It operates in all the major countries. The client has two major business segments: IT Hardware and App Development. The company is not earning enough revenue in new customer segment.

C: Can I know the revenue breakup from the two segments and are we facing growth decline in any segment?

I: You can assume a 30:70 breakup in IT hardware and app development. We are facing decline in app development segment.

C: Thanks for the information. On what parameter are we comparing the growth of app development segment?

I: The net new revenue acquired this year by competitor is 10%. However, the net new revenue acquired by us is 5%.

C: Thanks, I have fairly understood the business model of the client. Please allow me some time to jot down my thoughts.

In an IT company, the major touch points for providing App development service would be:

1. Company Infrastructure

2. Customer Acquisition

3. Customer Retention

4. Service Delivery

5. Client Success

As you have told me that we are not able to generate net new revenue as per market standards. Shall I go forward with customer acquisition department or focus on any other department as well?

I: Let’s go forward with customer acquisition.

C: Okay, customer acquisition could be impacted due to sales team or product.

I: Let’s focus on sales team.

C: The sales can reduce due to a decline in willingness, ability of the sales team or the number of people in sales team.

I: Let’s go forward with willingness first.

C: The willingness could be monetary or non-monetary. Monetary including salary, commission, or any other monetary benefit and non-monetary such as promotion, appreciation, and other perks.

I: Let’s focus on the monetary aspect. There is a base salary and flat 3% commission for closing a deal.

C: That’s an interesting pay structure of commission. I would further like to bifurcate the new customers acquired into customers approached → customers Converted.

I: There are two parameters basis which we measure the sales team performance.

Win Rate = No. of clients converted/ No. of clients approached

Close Rate: Value they convert / Value they target (Bid for)

There is no issue in Win Rate.

C: Is it fair to infer that the number of clients approached is as per market standards, but they are not targeting the big-ticket client?

I: Yes, this is the issue they are not targeting the big-ticket clients. What could be the reason behind the same?

C: As the commission rate is flat 3%, there might not be any additional incentive to reach out to the big-ticket clients.

I: Yes, that’s right. What would you recommend?

C: Short Term:

• Introduce variable commission for clients, basis value contributed.

• Set Value wise targets instead of number of clients acquired.

• Update the database to include leads of big-ticket clients.

Long Term:

• Training the employees to better persuade clients for better conversion rate.

• Q1. Give me a brief introduction about yourself.
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Your client is a maker of nets and ropes that are used across the fishing, agriculture, and construction industries. They have been facing stagnant growth for the past few and we need to help them devise a strategy to achieve full potential.

Let us focus on the fishing segment for this case.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate] 

C: (Re-iterated the problem statement). What is the current level of growth, and do we have a target in mind?

I: Current growth is in the range of 3-4% but their target is to grow at a rate of 15%.

C: Could you tell me a little more about the firm? Where is it currently based out of and is fishing net sales the only source of revenue?

I: The firm is based out of India and operates in the Indian market only. Yes, net sales are the only revenue source.

C: Understood. What about the product? How many variants do we sell, and do we have a USP?

I: We have multiple ranges and SKUs and are prices at a premium.

C: Could you tell me a little more about the Indian fishing net industry? How many players operate in the segment and what is our market share?

I: There are two sets of players: organized and unorganized. We are a market leader and hold 70% of the share.

C: Okay. In terms of the entire value chain of activities, I understand that we manufacture the nets, but are we also involved in distribution and sales? Who are our end customers?

I: We sell the nets through our network of distributors and dealers to small and large-scale fishermen.

C: I think I have gotten a fair understanding of the market. In order to push revenue, we can either increase our price or increase the sales volume or a mix of both. However, given we are already priced at a premium in a price conscious country like India, we might risk losing market share if we go ahead with that. I’ll focus on avenues through which we can increase the sales volume.

I: Yes, that sounds like a good approach.

C: In order to push sales, we can look at a combination of two factors: our product and the market we operate in. Do you want me to focus on any particular combination?

I: Let’s look at exploring new markets first.

C: Sure. We can explore new markets within the fishing industry such as inland fishing and shrimp farming in India. Further, we can enter new markets of neighboring coastal countries such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Philippines, etc. through exports or country set-ups.

We can increase volume using our existing product range or come up with newer variants that have higher ductile strength, longevity, longer usability life or are made of cheaper material.

On the contrary, given the rising concerns around sea pollution and damage to sea animals caused by discarded fishing nets we can come up with nets made of biodegradable or natural
material.

I: Those are interesting suggestions. If we were to foray into exports, which country would you pick?

C: I would pick a South Asian neighboring country such as Sri Lanka which has a flourishing fishing industry with dynamics similar to that of India.

I: Why not the U.S.?

C: Multiple reasons such as: high export costs, no competitive advantage and high risk. Additionally, the U.S. fishing industry is organized and at an advanced stage wherein they use automated shipping vessels and higher quality nets.

I: Makes sense. How would you estimate the market size of nets in Sri Lanka? Just give me a broad approach.

C: I would start with the overall population of the country and then identify what percentage of the population resides in the coastal areas (I would use the country map and dimensions to come up with a rough estimate).

Further, I would divide the working population into primary, secondary, and tertiary sector to then find the share of people employed in fishing.

I would then group them to identify the number of boats in play and estimate the use life of the nets to calculate annual demand.

I: That sounds like a fair approach. What about India? How would you push sales using the existing product and market?

C: I would look at lowering the price to push volumes or discriminatory pricing for the unorganized market; further I would strengthen my sales channels by tying up with fishing associations and unions.

I: Do you think the 15% target is achievable if we continue to operate domestically?

C: I think it is an ambitious target to have. Given the fishing industry is also growing at a slow pace and no boom is expected, there are limited avenues through which we can push sales.

However, we can look at the other industries: construction and agriculture as these seem more promising with the high investments in infrastructure and introduction of new farm laws. Further, we can explore new industries where nets and ropes could be used such as sports: cricket nets, football nets etc.

Background- Auctus Advisors is different from other typical consulting firms in the sense that it follows an uncertainty-based approach to solving problems. It involves a decision tree structure with below steps:

a, Breaking down the problem into uncertainties involved and decisions to be taken.

b, Work with associated cost of the outcomes.

c, Choose/recommend the branch with least cost/highest profit etc.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

Case 1:

The interviewer had a quick look at my resume and identified that I was an athlete during undergrad. He then went on asking about the events I do, my best performance and the Indian national record in those events.

I- Ajay, let us assume you have a relative whose child is also an athlete like you. Knowing that you chose academics over sports as your career choice, he reached out to you for suggestions on how he should go about his child’s career plans. How will you help him?

C- Can I have a minute to gather my thoughts around this?

I- Sure.

C- I would need some more information around the situation. Can I ask some clarifying questions?

• In what class is the child currently studying in? (Class 8)

• What is the gender of the child? (Male)

• Does the child have any siblings? (Yes, a younger sister)

• What is the financial status of the family?

• Typical middle-class family from Andhra Pradesh

• No family assets and properties

• How good is he in academics? (Does fairly well – within top 10 in the class)

• How good is he in sports? (Already mentioned in the case statement)

C- Let me start with the Pros and Cons of each of the career options.

I- Do you usually conduct the pros and cons analysis while taking decisions?

C- Not always. But it helps to have a qualitative view before going ahead with the decision-making situation.

There is one important question I failed to ask earlier. What is the final objective of this career choice decision making?

I - What can be the objective?

C- : I can think of the following:

• Higher Income (and properties)

• Societal status

• Self-satisfaction

Some of these might be difficult to quantify but these are broadly what I can think of.

I- Sounds good. Let’s consider all those factors you just listed

C- Now that we have a broader view, let me start by identifying the uncertainties and decisions involved. Assuming that the decision has to be taken as soon as possible, we have 2 uncertainties and 2 decisions.

Uncertainties:

• Whether or not he performs well in academics in future.

• Whether or not he performs well in sports in future.

Decisions:

Should the parent consider sports as a career options. If yes, should it be given more preference? In this case, we have two alternatives

• Join him in a sports academy with lesser focus on education.

• Work on education and send to sports coaching everyday.

• Focus more on education with coaching only on weekends.

I- Looks good. What would the decision tree look like?

C- First comes the decision 1 with two branches. If the parent doesn’t choose to consider sports as an option, there is nothing much left.

However, if he chooses to consider it, the branch will further have 3 branches (each to the respective options listed above). For each of these 3 branches, there will be uncertainty 1 and uncertainty 2. In the end, there will be outcomes of each of the branches.

Ex: Parent chooses to consider sports and joins him in a sports academy. What is the probability that he will do well in sports and do well in academics?

We will then assign probability to each of the branch and calculate the expected value of the outcomes. The decision can be based on these values.

Case 2: I have a piece of land with me. What should I do with it? How would you approach this problem?
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C- Sure. I would start with asking the objective of using this land.

Following are the few I can think of

• Make a lump sum money immediately

• Generate constant stream of cash flows

• Invest in the long term

Based on the duration before which you would expect the money to start flowing in, we can choose one of the above. For each of the above options, following can be done:

• Sell the land.

• Lease the land to some other corporate entities.

• Start a business. Can be one among below.

• Hotels.

• Amusement parks .

• Malls

I- Good. Can you summarize this?

C- Sure. The following things should be considered for making a decision.

•Mode of making money (Lump sum, Stream of cash flows)

•Time until which you can wait for money to start coming in (Long vs short term)

•Type of business to invest in (competitor analysis, SWOT)

I- You mentioned cash flows. Are you aware of cash flow statement? What does it tell about? How do you prepare a cash flow statement from if I give you income statement and balance sheet?

C- Explained and solved a small numerical which the interviewer gave with reasons behind why some line item is subtracted and why others are added to get the final net cash flow.

Walk me through your resume. You have only 3 minutes to do so.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]

C- Sure sir.

I- What is it that you are proud of, in your resume? What section do you want me to focus on, other than academics?

C- It would be sports sir.

I- Okay. Let us solve a problem. Tell me the probability of you making it to the Indian athletics team that represents Olympics? I am more interested in your approach than the final answer.

C- Sure. In order for me to be in the Indian team, I should pass through multiple stages – District, State and National. I will calculate the probability at each level and multiply it to get the final probability.

At the district level, considering a state like UP, there would be ~200 participants per event. Assuming that I am interested in only one event and only top 3 participants make it to the state level, the probability that I am in those is 3/200.

At the state level, there would be ~80 districts, each with 3 participants per the event. Top 3 here would be selected for national level. The probability is 3/240.

Same goes with national level. 28 states with 3 participants each and top 3 would be selected for the Indian team.

I- : You have taken around 15 minutes to solve this. If I give you only 3 minutes, how would you go about it?

C- Our population is 130 crores. I will take the percentage of population that plays sports (let us say ~15%).

Within those 15%, I will consider the percentage of them who play athletics. Then I will boil down to the event I am taking part in. Assuming that top 3 would be in Indian team, the answer would be 3/(above number)

I- The margin of error would be high in this approach. Can you think of another way?

C- : I will rank the current active athletes that take part in my event based on their best performance. I will have a particular rank among them, say 1800. I will then calculate the probability of me beating those above me and improve my rank to top 3. This would give a rough estimate of the required probability.

I- Fine. Let’s solve a puzzle. There is a 100 floor building and you have two eggs with you. Consider a hypothetical situation where the eggs would break only if you drop it from a particular floor or any floor above that. How many trials would you need to find out that floor? How do you minimize the number of trials?

C- The easiest way would be to start from ground floor and start dropping the egg from each floor. In the worst case, this would take 99 trials to find the
required floor.

The next way is to use binary search. Divide the building into two halves. Drop the egg from 50th floor. If it breaks, start from floor 1 to find out the required floor. If it doesn’t break, start from 51st floor and go up until the required floor. In the worst case, this would take 49 trials.

The other way is to break down the building into a set of 10 floors instead of two halves and drop the first egg from 10th, 20th, 30th, ….90th floor. Based
on the floor at which it breaks, start from the bottom. For example, if the first egg breaks at 30th floor, start dropping the second egg from 21st floor onwards. This approach would take around 19 trials in the worst case.

I- Good. You have considered 10 floors to come up with 19 trials. I believe the trials could still be reduced if you consider another size of the band of floors (say 11 floors, 12 floors etc.,). Using which size of the floors would you get minimum trials and how do you calculate it?

I- So, what are your thoughts about the current economic slowdown? Should we be concerned about it? Why is there a slowdown in the first place?

Suggest few steps to be taken to revive the
economy?

• Q1. What kind of products did you build and work on?
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Consider any app that you use frequently, what, according to you, are some of the major pain-points and what would you have done differently?
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate] 

C: Okay, let’s take LinkedIn as the app for our discussion.

I touched upon the basic and advanced features that have been introduced to the LinkedIn app, comparison with respect to its previous versions and after its acquisition by Microsoft.

I outlined the metrics that I as a Product Manager would want to keep a track of, while parallelly going through the user’s perspective and how the features suffice their requirements.

The focus was towards achieving a balance between improving user experience, creating user delight as well as maintaining the user engagement metrics on the platform.

I: Since you have worked and built fintech products, lets discuss about an initiative that I am working on, I am currently working on building a digital bank from the ground up in India.

(This was not a case discussion and the conversation revolved around the different aspects of the bank and how a digital setup would look like. The partner mentioned the different initiatives he had planned for setting up the bank).

Your client is a refrigerator manufacturer, who is recently facing a decline in their profits.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate] 

C: I would like to understand more about the client. (I asked the initial clarifying questions including base of operations, manufacturing facilities, value chain, product mix, market position, current industry scenario etc.)

The decline in profits can be an outcome of either an increase in costs or a decline in revenues or both, should I start from any of these parts?

I: There is neither a decline in revenues nor an increase in costs.

C: Okay, understood. Please allow me a minute to gather my thoughts.

C: I would want to understand the profit margins across the types of refrigerators we have and the market demand for the same. Also, how do they compare with the industry’s trend?

I: We have higher margins on double-door refrigerators, but they currently constitute 20% of our portfolio. For our competitors, about 40% of their sales come from double-door refrigerators.

C: We can try to optimize our product portfolio so as to maximize our profit margins.

• Q1. Tell me something about yourself.
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Our client is a home appliance manufacturer. For their refrigerator vertical they want to improve their profit margin which is currently around 13-15% (this is lower than their competitors).
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate] 

C: Confirmed the problem statement, applied the CPCC framework.

I: Client has been established in India for a very long time. The client operates throughout the value chain. There are 3 major market players which retain roughly 70-80% of the market share, our client is one of them. Refrigerators can be classified into 3 broad
categories:

(a) Single Door

(b) Double Door

(c) Premium.

The client also manufactures spare parts for refrigerators. Growth has not been a problem for the client.

C: To improve revenue, I laid down 3 options that the company can explore:

(1) Number of Retailers we are dealing with

(2) Average Quantity we are selling per retailer

(3) Price.

I: The client is doing well in all these 3 dimensions. What else can we do to improve the margin?

C: We can analyze the cost side and identify areas where we can reduce costs to improve the overall margin.

I: Costs cannot be reduced further, anything else you can think of?

C: We can look at the other revenue streams such as spare parts and installation services.

I: Let’s focus on refrigerators.

C: Confirmed if I can explore the competitive landscape and further questioned the difference between the client and competitor’s product offerings and price.

I: Go ahead.

C: Asked the profit margin per category for our client and the competitors.

I: The client was earning a profit margin of 10%, 14% and 19% respectively for single door, double door and premium respectively. Competitors were earning 10%, 15% and 20% for these categories.

C: Asked if there was a difference in the sales mix? If the competitor was selling more of one category than our client?

I: Yes, the competitor is selling more Premium refrigerators which is driving up their overall margin.

The client is a global tools manufacturer and has two product lines- hand tools (hammers, pliers etc.) and power tools (drill machines etc.) with limited differentiation. They launched their hand tools business in India 3 years back with 100+ dealers across the country but have only been able to achieve 1.5% market share even after conducting numerous marketing initiatives. The global management has asked them to get into the top 3 in 18 months or exit the market. How should the client proceed?
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate] 

C: Reiterated the problem statement and the given information. I’d like to understand more about the competitive landscape. How many players operate in the market and their respective market shares?

I: The top 3 players in the branded tools market hold 60% of the market. Player 1 :35%, Player 2: 15% and Player 3: 10%.

C: Does the client have any budgetary constraints for this expansion in India?

I: No, the client doesn't have any budgetary constraints.

C: The client can grow in India through Organic or Inorganic routes. Under organic routes as you mentioned earlier the client has tested a lot of marketing initiatives and has struck enough deals with retailers across the country. Therefore, we can explore pricing. We can dilute our profit margin and decrease the price of the product, but it might lead to a price war.

I: The company wants to maintain its current pricing strategy.

C: Then we should consider inorganic options which include JVs and M&As. Since we plan on staying here long term, I don't see JV as viable. So, I think we should look at M&A.

I: Great. Whom would you merge with or acquire and why?

C: Since our aim is top 3. I would look at the firms on rank 2 and 3.

I: Why not rank 1?

C: With 35% market share, they seem to be way ahead of the other competition and striking a deal with them might be difficult as compared to the rank 2 or 3 players who'd be more interested in associating with a global giant.

I: After we merge, would you want to launch a separate brand for the recently acquired company or sell it under the client’s name?

C: We can enjoy the brand recognition the company we acquired possesses and further improve our market share. Associating the client’s name with an Indian Manufacturer will further improve the client’s sale as well. Therefore, I recommend co-branding/ joint branding.

• Q1. Tell me about yourself.
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Shown a screenshare containing information pertaining to three product lines of a telecom company: their current market share, projected market in different segments, growth rate, EBITDA and market share ranking. I was asked about the current state of the company, and future action plans.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate] 

I: I’ll be sharing my screen and showing you some information regarding a telecom company. They have three product lines, with details mentioned in the sheet.

I need your help in determining the current state of this company, and any future action plans.

C: The whole interview was very conversational, with the interviewer giving cues based on the different heads mentioned on his screen: revenue and COGS were calculated to find the current state of the company for each product line.

Based on the individual analysis of each product line, the fate of the company was decided.

Your client is a public sector bank who is facing a high ATM fee payout. They require your help.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate] 

I: Smiled and mentioned we’ll directly be jumping into the case. Asked if I was ready, then gave the problem statement: Your client is a public sector bank who is facing a high ATM fee payout, they require your help.

C: Re-iterated to confirm the problem statement. Mentioned that I’d be needing the interviewer’s input to fully understand the issue. Asked doubts regarding fee payout.

I: Explained that when customers of other banks withdraw money from our bank’s ATM we receive pay in fee. Similarly, the vice versa situation results in a payout fee.

C: Scoped further with CPCC to understand the quantum of the payout fee and since when we had been facing this issue.

I: We have been facing this issue for the last 2-3 years, and the quantum of loss has been Rs. 200 Crores.

C: Asked where all our ATMs are located, who our customers are and whether our competitors are also facing a similar issue.

I: Mentioned that we operate pan India with 30 licenses, don’t have a segmentation difference in our consumer base and with respect to competition it’s a zero-sum game:so, if we have a high payout fee, another competitor is benefitting with a high pay in fee.

C: Having gathered the necessary information I asked for some time to structure the factors and broke them down into the number of customers, transactions per customer, frequency of transactions and ATMs present per customer.

I: Sure, let’s start with the customers. What all could be the issues they are facing?

C: Further broke the factors down into geographic locations of the ATMS: availability and time to reach, wait time, safety, ATM operational hours, convenience and ease of use experience.

I: Explained that there is no issue with safety, then asked to explore the other factors. He mentioned that out bank currently has 10,000 ATMs and asked if they are enough?

C: Mentioned that the 10,000 ATMs number stand alone is not enough to come to a satisfactory conclusion. Asked about our market share, and benchmark against competitors.

I: Good. Assume there are 3 lakh ATMs in India, and our bank holds a 5% consumer base, being the 3rd largest bank in India. The largest bank holds 12% consumer base with 25,000 ATMs and 2nd largest bank holds 8% consumer base with 8,000 ATMs.

C: Comparing with the top 1st and 2nd largest banks, the number of ATMs our bank has is at the benchmark level, however; considering there are 3 lakh ATMs in India: we should ideally operate around 15,000 ATMs in India to cater to the 5% consumer base and try to increase this number to receive a higher pay in fee.

I: Yes, you are correct. We need to operationalize more ATMs across India to cater to our own customers and increase our pay-in fee. This is one issue we are facing. What could the other issues be?

C: Traced the customer journey to confirm there were no issues in the need to withdraw cash, and no affordability concerns. ATM accessibility was an already discussed issue. Hence, we then moved to availability and customer experience. Discussed factors like operational hours, availability of cash, queue time, ATM machine working condition.

I: Asked to expand on cash availability and machine working condition.

C: Asked how frequently the cash was re-filled, especially in areas where consumer density was high, and if the frequency of refill and volume of cash filled was sufficient.

I: Mentioned that this was the second issue we were facing, as our re-fill rate was not up to the mark. Then he asked me to scope further to figure out the last issue.

C: Focused on the ATM machine’s working conditions: hardware and software related issues. Broke hardware issue down to: machine not working, card reader broken, cash dispenser not rendering cash, and software issues into server side: client-side issues, internet issues, fund unavailability, language/software issues.

I: Yes, you are going in the right direction. Why could the machine not be working?

C: Listed factors like functional issues with a new machine just installed, old machines that were broken, damaged machines due to improper usage, spoilage due to water/weather/external factors, lack of electricity to run the machine, etc.

I: Yes, the third issue we are facing is that our ATMs located in rural areas don’t have adequate power supply hence many of our ATMs are non-operational. Thank you, Parkhi, for your time, it was a pleasure interacting with you. All the best!

• Q1. Tell me about yourself.
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• Q2. For a DTH company, how do you recognize revenue for a one-time 2 year compulsory charges, monthly subscription, for the setup, accounting treatment for cancella...read more
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• Q3. CV based questions.
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• Q4. Can you handle high pressure, long working days?
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• Q5. Why do you want to relocate to Mumbai and not pursue opportunities in my home city?"
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• Q1. Explain valuation by multiples approach. Rationale behind various multiples.
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• Q2. What is the relevant multiple for valuing a cement company? Why?
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• Q3. Explain EV/EBITDA, rationale, treatment of minority interest and logic behind the treatment.
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• Q4. Mergers and acquisitions in cement industry; Reason for cement industry consolidation in recent times.
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• Q5. Number of tyres in Bangalore.
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• Q1. Tell me something about yourself.
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• Q2. What did you do at ZS? Few follow up questions.
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• Q3. In the past few interviews, you have had, what was one thing you lacked?
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• Q4. Walk me through your CV.
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• Q5. What did you learn at ZS?
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• Q6. How would you apply your learnings gained from ZS in a retail bank?
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• Q7. Questions on internship.
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Your client is a scientist who has created a teleporter. Now, she wants to monetize her invention. Tell her 5 things to consider doing the same.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate] 

(It was more of an idea generation case and was completely led by the interviewee).

C: Asked a few scoping questions and then proceeded to tell the points I’d consider.

1. Safety precautions (Invention would be dangerous in the wrong hands)

2. Target Group: Government/Military, not open to all due to high risk

3. Pricing strategy

4. GTM strategy

5. Patent

Your client owns a pathology lab in southern region of the country. He wants to increase his business by 4-5x times. What would you do?
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate] 

It was more of an idea generation case and was completely led by the interviewee.

C: Covered the following things post scoping questions

1. Digital transformation

2. Promotions

3. Anshoff matrix

4. Backward/Forward integration

5. M&A